Students interested in pursuing studies toward their life experience degree have three new offerings at a Texas university from which to choose. The institution is planning marketing, information systems and global business degree offerings intended to train students for jobs that are expected to experience growth. Through the offerings students can respectively learn about marketing data and analysis, how businesses use computers to improve their work and foreign language and culture, with study abroad opportunities.
This institution isn’t alone. In Indiana, a university is introducing an international studies minor where students can learn about foreign cultures. The program is to focus on foreign languages, with a choice of Chinese, French or Spanish, as well as world and human geography, an Inside INdiana Business news item noted.
A member organization known as NAFSA: Association of International Educators (originally named National Association of Foreign Student Advisers) works in part to promote international education. Today’s global challenges demand international competence, the group’s web site notes. Those who are better prepared to meet 21st century demands are those who study abroad, study foreign languages and participate in internships and experiential learning opportunities, according to the association web site.
The value of an international online college courses increases when economies outside of the United States grow, according to the web site for a Tampa university where students can work toward an international business degree. China has for some time been a popular subject of study. Some schools have established separate programs and schools for Chinese studies. Several institutions these days are looking toward India, according to an Inside Higher Education article.
Business schools in Georgia, for instance, offer joint two-year master’s degree programs with a management school in Channai, the Inside Higher Education article noted. A Texas university, on the other hand, offers a Study Abroad program in India, where students can learn about the culture as well as some of the challenges and opportunities for doing business there. As the second fastest growing market in Asia, India offers varied and profitable export opportunities in certain areas and situations, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports.
The concept of incorporating foreign language and culture studies into business degree programs isn’t necessarily new. A university in Michigan in 1979 launched one of the first programs in the United States to combine requirements in foreign language proficiency with area studies, international business, economics and practical training that became a model for developing similar programs elsewhere, an ERIC Clearinghouse article reported. Yet a Bloomberg BusinessWeek reporter addressing the expansion of a New York City art and design school’s design and management program earlier this year suggested that a need still exists for undergraduate business programs to provide students with an understanding of and empathy for different cultures.
A study of University System of Georgia institutions suggests that Study Abroad programs might help with that understanding and empathy. Academic performance and graduation rates of study abroad students, including the academic performance of at-risk students, improves, according to study results cited in a recent Inside Higher Education report. A Transitions Abroad study reports that Study Abroad alumni found the experience increased their self-confidence, helped them better understand their own cultural values and biases, reinforced their commitment to foreign language studies and more.
Faced with budget cuts, foreign language programs are working to strengthen their programs, an Inside Higher Education report noted. Some are working with other areas of colleges and universities as a means of accomplishing this, according to the article. A university in Michigan, in an attempt to reverse studies showing that students aren’t able to convey the value of Study Abroad experiences well enough in interviews to get hired, has launched a training workshop to help them do so, The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported.
As businesses get more and more into global decisions and employment needs, the demand for those with business degree program qualifications will grow. Completing a business degree program and supplementing those studies with on line degrees in language are a way to make yourself a major component of these advances.